Infidelity
by Gemmika
Summary: After centuries together, a chance revelation causes Neo Queen Serenity to doubt her husband's feelings. Could he feel for Sailor Pluto the way she feels for him?


**A/N: Hello there! This story is a bit different for me in the fact that it's very, very angsty. I'm usually all about fluff, but when I re-read the Black Moon story arc of the manga, I knew that I needed to write something about Pluto's feelings for Endymion. Since I don't understand Pluto (I'm so sorry!) I decided to write the story from Usagi's POV like I usually do. How would she feel after realizing another woman was in love with her husband? Well, she has a jealous streak a mile wide, so this is what I came up with...**

The moment the bedroom door opened, Serenity forced herself to quiet the tears that had been soaking into her pillow for the last hour. After what she had learned today, she was within her rights to cry herself to sleep if she chose to. What she couldn't do was let her husband find her crying. She wasn't willing to discuss this yet, so she flipped her pillow over and lay as still as possible. If she was lucky, he would assume she was already asleep and she could have the night to think over her options before bringing her problem to him.

Stillness claimed her body as her husband climbed into bed beside her. She waited patiently for him to settle in so she could slip out unawares, but he did something surprising. On most nights when he came to bed after she did, he would roll to his side and fall asleep within minutes. Tonight he slid across the bed until he was spooned against her back, and he wrapped his arms around her. He was so warm that even though she needed distance from him now, she couldn't stop herself from snuggling into that warmth.

"I was hoping you would still be awake," he whispered in her ear. His lips trailed down the back of her neck and moved across her shoulder, making her skin tingle at his touch.

She knew that if she spoke, the words would spill out of her in a flood before she could stop them, so she said nothing.

"I missed you today. I thought we were supposed to have lunch together in the atrium." He breathed the words against her skin, leaving her no room to misinterpret what he meant. The atrium was the one area of the palace that was open to everyone in Crystal Tokyo. Whenever they agreed to have lunch there, it was their own personal code for feeding a very different kind of hunger at midday. After what she had discovered, she hadn't really been willing to put on a brave face for him.

"I was looking into something." She was surprised the words had come out sounding so normal. She had been sure they were going to be thick with tears, but they hadn't betrayed her at all.

"Can I be of assistance in any way?"

The words were so sincere, so gentle. It was no wonder that her carefully held back tears began trailing down her cheeks again. The droplets were fat, hot, burning her lids and skin as they flowed out of her. They were the passionate tears of utter heartbreak and betrayal.

"Serenity, sweetheart?" Endymion's voice rose an octave as she began crying in his arms. His worry for her was so clear in his voice and the way he clutched her tighter against his chest. It brought aching sobs ripping from her chest.

 _How had this happened to them? Weren't they supposed to be immune from this kind of thing?_

"I spoke with Pluto this morning," she said between sobs.

His hands stilled on her shoulders, freezing in the act of trying to turn her body toward him while she was crying. "Is she hurt? Did something happen to her?" Genuine fear in his voice for the guardian of time. She shook her head and his body relaxed, his fingers loosening their grip on her shoulders. Her tears came faster. If she had needed proof, that was enough.

She supposed she couldn't blame him. Not really. Anyone might grow tired of the same lover if they had been together as long as they had. The other woman was everything she wasn't… dark, exotic, intelligent and more than a little mysterious. It wasn't surprising that her husband's eyes had strayed toward the solitary sailor soldier.

Not that she believed he had acted on it. No, he would never betray her in that way. But… it was agonizing knowing he cared for another woman just as that woman cared for him. It was more painful than she had ever expected it could be.

Endymion finally managed to turn her so that she was facing him and he tilted her chin up so she had to look into his eyes. "Serenity, I can't help you unless you talk to me. Why are you crying? What's happening with Pluto? Talk to me… please!"

The words were impossible to say. She had thought she would have more time to put everything in order, to consider her options and practice what she wanted to say to him. When he pushed her now, what could she say except: "Do you love her?"

Her question hung in the air between them, as fragile and threatening as broken glass. If he lied, if he told the truth, his answer was bound to cut them both. How could he even respond to it? Did she want to know the truth?

His forehead creased and his eyebrows drew together. "I don't understand. What are we talking about?"

She pushed against his chest, distancing herself from him. "Pluto! Dammit, Endymion. I know that you sneak off to see her almost every day. When I spoke to her this morning, I saw the way she reacted when I mentioned you. I'm not blind or stupid, so just tell me! Do you love her?"

Silence.

His hands fell away from her shoulders and he pushed himself out of the bed. He stalked around the room for several minutes, one hand pushed through his hair in agitation, but he kept his eyes on her. She watched as the worry drained from his face, replaced with cold surprise and more than a hint of the same betrayal she had been feeling all day. "Pluto spends her life alone, _dedicated_ in her service to the rulers of Silver Millennium," he began, his voice rough and angry, as though daring her to contradict him. Then he stopped his pacing and glared across the room. "She never leaves her post… so I go to her."

Pain shot through her chest, making her stomach heave dangerously. She was going to be sick. "So you admit it. You and she…"

"I bring her books."

 _What?_

"You…?" She didn't understand, couldn't comprehend what he meant by that. _Books_? What kind of explanation was that?

"You _ridiculous_ woman." He stalked back across the room, fire burning in his eyes. When he crawled back onto the bed, it shook with his furious movements and she shrank away from him, unnerved by his anger for the first time in their long life together. He reached out for her and snatched her against his chest roughly, burying his face into her hair. "Do you really think I even _see_ anyone but you? From the moment I first laid eyes on you outside that jewelry store, I lost any desire I had to look anywhere else! Your face is the _only_ one I can see. You consumed me."

Never before had she felt so much shame. Her unfounded concern had turned to jealousy and goaded her into lashing out at the one person she loved and trusted beyond any other. Even his furious words were far too kind. As hurt and angry as he was, he was still professing his love for her. He could have walked out, would have been justified in leaving her and her jealous streak for good… but he didn't. She wondered if she would ever deserve him.

"Endymion… I…"

He wasn't going to let her interrupt now that he had gotten going, though his next words were quieter, softer. "My feelings for Pluto are no more or less than what they are for any of the other sailor soldiers that serve and protect you. Small Lady told me a few months ago how lonely Pluto was, and so I went to her and offered to bring her books from our library to help her pass the time. If I had known it would give you reason to doubt me, I would have assigned the job to someone else."

Trembling hands wrapped around his waist and she dropped her forehead to his shoulder. She wanted to believe him so badly, but she was shaken up. When she had asked her daughter about the relationship between her father and Pluto, Small Lady had been only too excited to talk about it. She wasn't mature enough to understand, but Serenity had known, had understood. The softness in Pluto's voice when she spoke of the King, the way she blushed when Endymion's name was mentioned, her pleasure when the King paid attention to her or gave her special duties… it was all too clear how she felt about him. When Small Lady had admitted to her how often she found her father speaking with Pluto, Serenity had been terrified that he returned her feelings.

"Then… you really don't look at her that way?" Uncertainty still had her in a vicious grasp. She hadn't felt this uneasy about their relationship since they were teenagers and Chibiusa had shown up and stolen away his attention. It was agonizing to realize that even after several centuries together, she still worried she wouldn't be enough to keep him.

He sighed and gentled his grip on her, the anger draining out of him. "How is it that after half a dozen lifetimes together, you still don't realize how precious you are to me?" He whispered his question into her hair and stroked one hand up and down her back. "How can you still believe that it's possible for me to love anyone but you?"

Tears trickled out of her eyes and she rubbed them away quickly. He was right. She _was_ a ridiculous woman. Even if it was obvious that Pluto cared for Endymion, she never should have accused him of feeling the same. It was unfair and inappropriate to even suggest. If she had been in his place, she probably would have stormed out of their room.

"I don't think ' _sorry_ ' is strong enough for this situation," she admitted, feeling her face heat up with shame and guilt.

He sighed and his chest rumbled against her cheek. "I admit that being accused of having an affair isn't exactly what I was hoping for tonight when I crawled into bed next to you."

The flush deepened when she thought of the tender way he had touched and spoken to her when he had come to bed earlier. She was disgusted with herself and her jealous heart. "What can I do to fix this?"

His hand continued to stroke the bare skin of her back as he thought it over. "Will you give me whatever I ask for, no matter what it is?"

A thrill of nerves ran through her at his question but she pushed it away. He never hesitated to give her anything she wanted, no matter what it was. It was her turn to give him everything. No matter how selfish the request might be.

"Yes. If it's in my power to give it to you, I'll do it."

He cupped her cheek in his palm and brought his mouth down to hers. It was a gentle kiss, more so than she deserved under the circumstances. Then it grew warmer, more urgent. By the time he pulled away she was gasping for breath and digging her nails into his shoulders.

"If you can believe for even a moment that what we have isn't enough for me, or that I might need to seek more with someone else, something needs to change." His fingers brushed against her jaw as he whispered his demand: "I want another honeymoon."

That had not been _at all_ what she was expecting.

"When?"

He kissed her again, hot and demanding. "Now."


End file.
